VISTA  The first time “My Fair Lady” was staged at Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre in 1986, founding artistic director Kathy Brombacher had to scrounge set pieces from the Old Globe’s scrap pile to make ends meet.

Twenty-eight years later, “My Fair Lady” is returning to the Moonlight once again, and so is Brombacher — who retired in 2012 after 31 years at the helm of the Vista arts group.

Brombacher is making her long-overdue return to the stage in Lerner and Loewe’s popular 1956 musical about cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Hilary Maiberger), who is transformed into a proper English lady with elocution lessons from the insufferable dialect coach Henry Higgins (Hank Stratton). Brombacher plays Higgins’ mother.

Brombacher is best known as a producer and director, but she started out as an actor. In the 1970s, she performed locally at Starlight Theatre and the La Jolla Stage Company as well as in director Craig Noel’s production of “The Seagull” at the Old Globe. But she hasn’t performed on the Moonlight Amphitheatre stage since 1993 in “Mame.”

What coaxed her out of acting retirement was the show’s director, Steven Glaudini, whom Brombacher hand-picked to succeed her as Moonlight’s artistic director two years ago. More than a year ago, he planted the seed of his idea, and Brombacher said she had to give the offer time to grow.

“It had been so long. I asked him to give me some time,” she said. “Then I went back and looked at the script and it’s delightful. This is a small role I play. but she has something important to say and she’s wise, witty and warm. And fortunately, it’s Steve. I trust him implicitly and we have a great relationship.”

Rehearsals have been a whirlwind, with dramaturgy about turn-of-the-century England and lessons with a dialectic specialist. Many of the 29 cast members are friends and colleagues she has directed in the past, and it’s fun getting to work with them this time as a fellow actor, particularly Jim Chovick, who is playing Higgins’ colleague Col. Pickering.

“Steve has chosen a magnificent cast, and everyone is getting close like a big family. I’m really excited about it all,” she said.

Rehearsing on the Moonlight stage reminds her of shows she acted in during the company’s early years. One particular favorite was the 1990 production of “Into the Woods,” where she co-starred with then-teen Bets Malone, who has been married to Glaudini for nearly 20 years.

Glaudini said Brombacher has been terrific in rehearsals and he’s thrilled that audiences will have the opportunity to see her back on the Moonlight stage after a 21-year absence.

“She is so funny and phenomenal,” he said. “So many people who come to Moonlight have never seen that side of her before, and I’m loving that we have her back again. She is an absolute kick.”